Railroad mail-transferring device



P. A. LINDBERG.

RAILROAD MAIL TRANSFERRING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED-JULY a. 1920.

1 ,398, 1 36, Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

3 v v 6 0" I 7' IV/IIESSES 1 PEIZWW INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER A. LINDBERG, OF MOUNT PLEASANT, UTAH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

Application filed July 8, 1920. Serial No. 394,612.

To all whomz'v' may concern Be it known that 1, PETER A. LINDBEBG, acitizen of the United States, residing at Mount Pleasant, in the countyof Sanpete and State of Utah, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Railroad Mail-Transferring Devices, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention has reference to devices for transferring mail to andfrom rapidly moving trains and has for its principal object theprovision of means whereby the transfer of the mail bags from one memberto another may be easily and efficiently accomlished without danger ofdestruction to or oss of the bags.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of improvedand novel means of suspending the bags from the hanger bars so that theexchange of the mail bags can be easily and quickly accomplished withoutloss of time and without danger of the bags not being properlypositioned for the exchange.

With the above and other objects in view the invention resides in thedetails of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will behereinafter more fully pointed out, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a top plan view illustratingthe application of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view indicating the manner in which theexchange is effected.

Fig. 3 is a sectional, detailed view, taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2,the arrows denoting the direction in which the mail car hanger ismoving.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the perforated plate or suspension ring of thebag carrier means, and

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 4.

In the drawings, 1 indicates a portion of a car structure in the doorway 2 of which is mounted a vertically disposed, movable post 3 havingits ends ournaled in bearing plates 4 provided on one side of the doorway as shown to advantage in Fig. 1. Rigidly connected to post 3 andprojecting outwardly therefrom is a hanger arm 5 which carries theoppositely projected hanger bars 6 from which the mail pouch is designedto be hung. When the hanger is not in use, the arm 5 may be swung in anare through the open door way as indicated by the curved arrow of Fig. 1and the door way closed by a sliding door 7, running in a track 8. Thisdoor is provided with transversely extending openings 9 located adjacentopposite edges of the door and designed to register with a recess 10formed in the sides of the car so that the door may be locked in eitheropen or closed position by means of the locking pin 11. This door may beset regardless of whether the car hanger is swung to the in side oroutside of the ear, the post 3 cooperating with the edge of the door torespectively close the opening. The car hanger is supported andsustained in its outwardly swung position by means of a brace rod 12hingedly connected to an arm 5 at one end and having a hooked end at theother end for engagement with an eye 13 screwed into the side. of thedoor way as indicated, The receiving station or exchange apparatusdesigned to cooperate with the mail car in the transferring of the mailpouches from one member to the other comprises a supporting frameworklet resting upon a suitable base or foundation 15 and provided with aprojecting bar 16 and pouch hangers 17 somewhat similar to that carriedby the mail car.

The pouches to be exchanged are supported from appropriately disposedhanger portions so as to be easily and rapidly exchanged as the traintravels past the receiving station. The pouches are suspended from thehorizontally disposed hanger bars 6 and 17 respectively by means offlat, disk-like plates 18, preferably stamped from a single sheet ofmaterial and of an elongated oval contour grooved or flanged externallyabout the outer peripheral edge as indicated at 19 to provide a socketfor receii 'ing and retaining the looped end 20 by a suitable rope orother connection 21 to the end of which is attached a hook 22. Thesuspension member is provided adjacent one end with a circular aperture23 and an elongated opening or slot 24 adjacent the opposite end; theaperture and slot being separated from each other by a bridge piece 25as shown. At its outermost end the slot is tapered in conformity withthe taper of the suspension member as indicated at 26. Each mail pouchhas a suspension disk attached thereto by means of the flexibleconnection 21 which is coiled about the pouch intermediate its end withthe hook 22 engaging the rope 21 below the perforated end 23. Each bagis then. ready to be suspended from its appro:

priate hanger. In arranging the pouch upon the mail car hanger, one ofthe horizontal hangers, 6, is inserted through the slot- 2a engaging theedge 26 thereof so that the pouch will be suspended with the maj orportion of the slot disposed below the arm 5 and in direct line with anappropriate hanger l? of the receiving station so that the latter maypass easily into the slot as the mail car moves toward and past it. Thetapered formation of the slot at permits the suspension ring tooscillate with the motion Of the train, and at the same time preventsany sidewise sliding movement otthe member on the hanger, thus tendingto keep the slot 24 in alineinent with the hanger 17 at all times sothat there will be no possibility of the suspension memher being jostledaway from the hanger so as to tail of being picked up by the latter asthe train rushes by. The edge 26 is the only point of suspension of themember 18 and the weight of the pouch carried thereby will steady itagainst undue oscillating motion. The pouch to be delivered to themoving train would be similarly provided with a suspension member ofthis character but in this instance the hanger 17 upon which the pouchis to be supported is inserted through aperture 23 so that'the slot 24will be positioned above the arm 16 and in alinement with the car hanger6. The weight of the pouch carried by the rope 21 tends to keep themember 18 in vertically disposed position, aided by the partly solid andnaturally heavier lower portion 27 of the suspension ring. It may thusbe seen that the arrangement of an aperture and slot adj acent oppositeends of the supporting member adapt it to the alternate use of suchends, in that the slotted end constitutes the point of suspension whenhanging the mail pouch of the train, whereas, when the station pouch ishung, the apertured end of the plate is used, the same slipping over thehanger arm. When the plate is supported at the apertured end 23, theslotted end is projected above the support asindicated at the right ofFig. 3. When the plateis suspended from the slotted end, the majorportion of the slot depends below the hanger arm. The particularlocation of the slotted end, with respect to the supporting hanger arm,depends, of course, upon whether the hanger arm which passes into theslot is lo cated above or below the hanger arm upon which the plate issupported. Hence, the ends of the plate are used alternately in locatingthe slotted portion in line with the plate-engaging hanger arm.

In transferring the mail pouches or bags from one car to the station andvice versa, it will be noted from a consideration of Figs. i and 2 thatas the mail car hanger passes above the station receiving hanger, theinrdly ispo d, s and. ach enter t ,and 17 to become slot 24 of one. ofthe bag carriers suspended from the hangers 6 and 1'7. Theabutment ofthe end or the respective arms 5 and 16 with the suspension member ofthe opposite hanger, causes the carriers with hangers 6 disengaged fromthe supporting hanger 6 and l? as the train passes the receiving stationand to become engaged with hangers 6 and 17 thus effecting an exchangeof the pouches without loss of time and without danger of destruction tothe'bag or its contents, After a station is passed, the door of a mailcar may be opened and the brace rod 12 released to p rmit the hanger tobe easily swung into the car and the mail bag removed. Mail bags mayalso be hung on the hanger while inside the car and the latter thenswung out into position when nearing the station, ready to deposit onebag and pick up another. The hangers can be built high enough so as notto int rfere with the movement of the mail clerks. in case there shouldbe any danger of the bags blowing off from the rear part of the hangerwhile the train is approaching the station in a severe wind, it could beheld in position by the cord in the hands of the mail clerk until thestation hanger is reached. 7

From the above description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings it may be seen that the invention herein provided contemplatesthe provisionoi means for facilitating exchange of mail bags with amoving train and including novel suspension means for the bags in theform of ring 100 like members provided with a large or upper opening forengagement with the bar hanger and a small or lower 0 aening forengagement with the depot hanger; the bags being suitably connected toeach of the said ring like 106 members and hung from their respectivesupports in the proper position according to the direction the train ismoving.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is 1. Suspension means for a mail bagcomprising a supporting member having an encircling groove andperforated inwardly of the groove and adjacent each end to permit ofalternate use of such ends for purpose of supporting the bag in thetransfer oi the latter, and flexible tie means accommodated in saidgroove and providing means for con-- necting the mail bag to the saidmember.

2. Suspension means for a mail bag comprising an oval shaped supportingmember perforated adjacent each end to permit of alternate use of suchends for purposes of supporting the bag in the transfer of the 1 25latter, and grooved about its outer periphery to provide a rope socket,and rope means for connecting themail bag to said member, said ropebeing looped about the grooved p eshery at th m mbe 3. Suspension meansfor a mail bag comprising an externally flanged supporting ring, bridgedinwardly of its sides to provide a large opening adjacent one end and asmall aperture adjacent the other end, whereby the said member may bealternately supported from either end, a rope connecting the mail bag tosaid member, a hook on one end of said rope and a loop on the other endfor accommodation between the flanges of the said member.

4. A railroad mail transferring device comprising a hanger supporthaving a delivery arm and a catching arm, an elliptical shapedsuspension member having a long slot inwardly of one end and a circularopening inwardly of the other end, respectively alining with thelongitudinal axis of the member and adapting either end of the memberfor engagement with any arm of the hanger whereby the member may besuspended therefrom with the slotted portion disposed above or below thesupporting arm, and bag-holding means depending from the end of themember adjacent the circular opening and in line with the longitudinalaxis thereof for holding the member balanced in position by the Weightof the suspended bag.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PETER A. LINDBERG.

Witnesses C. W. BUR uIsT, RALPH T. POULSON.

